Growing Seed Parable

Updated on December 13, 2010

Too often we are under the misunderstanding that constant
attention has to be showered on someone as they receive the Word for the first
time. We think that we have to be in their faces all the time. We believe that
we have to correct every little thing they do. It all has to be perfect. What
we do not realize is that we might be doing more harm than good.

Mark 4:26-29

He also said, “This is what the kingdom
of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he
sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All
by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full
kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it,
because the harvest has come.” (NIV)

We sow the seed of the Word. Then we begin to hammer it in
their heads. They need to accept now. They need to understand now. They need…….
That is what we think. God says we need to sow and let Him take care of the
rest. I’ll give you an example.

My husband is not shy about sharing the Word. He is also one
that will back off as soon as the person lets him know that they will not
tolerate any more religious talk. He has been criticized for this method. He
has been told that they have to accept now. He needs to push it. But this verse
comes alive with his method of witnessing.

A friend of his that he had known for over ten years
accepted Christ. He said that it was because my husband did not badger him and
force him to accept. My husband told the truth and let the Master Grower take
it from there. He allowed the Word to convict his friend and not his words of
persuasion. Why? Because then he could claim no credit. All the credit went to
God.

A girl I worked with was into the occult. She would say and
do things just to see if I would pull away like all the other Christians. I
didn’t, yet I also didn’t ram my religion down her throat. I let her figure it
out. It wasn’t long before she asked for a Bible and then accepted Christ. Even
after her conversion she had not accepted the “correct” beliefs on some things.
One thing was abortion. She told what she believed. I bit my tongue. Why?
Because if I told her my stance on it and even used scripture she would only
have gotten angry and dug in her heals. Truth cannot get through such high and
thick walls. A few weeks later she approached me and asked why I didn’t correct
her on that issue. She pulled out verses that contradicted what she had said
earlier. I asked her if she would have listened if I had told her. With a
smile, she said no. The Master Gardener did a better job than I could have
dreamed of. She had to come to a decision about that topic on her own and from
God.

You can apply this principle to anything in life. When you
get into a discussion, does it turn into a debate or an argument? An argument
means that you are not letting the Master Gardner do his work. You are trying
to do the miraculous. We do it with any religious topic. We do it with
politics. We do it all the time. We have to convince people that we are right.
Why? Because we are not so sure that we are right. By going up to someone and
attacking any belief they have is asking them to put up defenses and begin
fighting. You will never get through anyone like that. You show yourself the
fool. Let it go.

Who are you most likely to listen to? The person who is
respectful to your own views. Whose opinions are you most likely to mull over?
The person who doesn’t try to ram them down your throat. What is the old saying
about bees and honey?

No matter what side you are on religion in general or a
particular subject of religion, you can get more results by not being
obnoxious, belligerent, rude, or condescending. You get more when you respect
the other person and not keep telling them why they are wrong. The ground is
more fertile when we respectfully lay the seed down and let it do its thing.

We have two cousins that do not believe in God. One listens
to the Christian side with respect and then gives his own opinion. If you are
one to respect him back and not badger him, you will have many more of these
conversations. The other cousin is immediately in your face when he sees you.
He has to start a fight about whether there is a God or not. He starts telling
the other person how stupid they are. In fact, he talks so much and without
thinking that before long he talks himself into holes and up against walls.
When that happens, he screams and shouts and leaves. The other person need not
say a word. How is anyone to listen to his viewpoint if it is so emotional and
rammed down our throats?

Do you know who Ruth Stout is? She was an eccentric gardener
who led the world down a new gardening path. She proposed that you did not have
to weed or do any work in the garden that was labor intensive. Let nature do
the work. Lay down the mown grass and vegetable cuttings from the kitchen along
the row of vegetables. Do not work the mulch into the dirt. Let nature do it
all. Only once in awhile the gardener turns the mulch to get oxygen in it. Other than that nature does all the
fertilizing and weeding. It has been a revolutionary way of gardening.

Plant the seed and back away. Be close to let some oxygen in
when needed. Other than that, just let the Master Gardener do the work.

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Comments 2 comments

This was awesome! It makes PERFECT sense. I am very much impressed with the way you brought this important truth accross. I have felt the same way for many years. God will not share the glory that belongs to Him. We are to understand that it is Him that works in a man's heart to bring the increase. You have done very well to remind us of that! Up and awesome!